televisions as frivolous and a luxury that would increase social gaps. Therefore, the government ordered the Israel Broadcasting Authority to cease broadcasting in color. As it was impractical to strip out the chrominance signal from material recorded in color, this was accomplished by simply omitting the burst phase signal from the broadcast. The "damaged" signal triggered the "color killer" mechanism, installed in color TV sets to prevent the appearance of color. This method was named Mehikon ( "eraser"). Soon after its introduction of the "Color eraser", special TV sets with an Anti-Mehikon ( "anti-eraser") device were offered. This device re-constructed the burst phase signal according to several known standards. The client had to turn a knob until the pictures on the screen appeared in natural colors. According to a report in Yediot Aharonoth from January 1979, clients had to adjust the knob every 15 minutes on average in normal conditions, or up to 10 times an hour when special problems occurred, in order to restore natural colors or if the picture suddenly turned black and white. Based on information from owners of electricity appliance stores, the report estimated that 90% of those who bought color TV sets also bought the Anti-Mehikon device, which added about 5–10% to the price of the television. Eventually, the Mehikon idea was proven to be futile, and the Israeli television stopped using it in 1980, allowing color transmissions to be received freely. Notes References Television technology Color he:אנטי-מחיקון